The present invention relates to an ammunition storage and retrieval system. More particularly, the invention is directed to a modular magazine for storing and retrieving munitions having different handling characteristics.
Ammunition storage and retrieval systems are a necessary part of nearly every large caliber artillery weapon system. The large size of the ammunition used in these weapon systems often prohibits manual loading of the weapon. Thus, ammunition storage and retrieval systems are provided to store a supply of ammunition for the weapon and to transfer ammunition from the storage area to the weapon for firing.
Each storage and retrieval system is specifically designed to meet the needs of the weapon it serves. One consideration in the design of the storage and retrieval system is the number of munitions the storage and retrieval system should store. The number of stored munitions depends on the operating nature of the weapon served by the system. In particular, the number of munitions stored depends on the size of the munitions and the ease with which the munition store may be restocked. Obviously, an ammunition and retrieval system on board a ship would necessarily hold a greater number of munitions than a similar system on a tank, or other ground based weapon, since the ground based system is easier to restock.
Another consideration for the ammunition storage and retrieval systems are the specific handling characteristics of the munitions used by the particular weapon. The handling characteristics of the munitions will impact the manner in which the munitions are stored as well as the manner in which the munitions are transferred to the weapon. The specific handling characteristics of each munition are determined by the shape and weight of the munition. Specifically, the handling characteristics of a munition include the length, outer configuration, and weight of the munition as well as any other external characteristic, such as fins or other guidance device, that is specific to the particular munition. Both the storage area and the transfer mechanism must be designed to account for the handling characteristics of the munitions to prevent the munitions from being damaged in storage or during transfer to the weapon.
As an additional consideration for these storage systems, certain weapons often fire different types of munitions that are specifically designed to meet different situational needs. For example, a ground based artillery system, such as a howitzer, may fire munitions that have different ranges or different explosive charges. To serve these different purposes, the munitions often have different shapes and weights. To be effective, the storage and retrieval system for the weapon must be capable of storing and retrieving each of the differently shaped munitions.
Certain types of munitions, particularly certain extended range munitions, present a unique problem for storage and retrieval systems. These extended range munitions are problematic because their length is substantially greater than the length of a standard range munition. For example, in the case of the howitzer, a standard range munition for a 155 mm caliber howitzer has a length of about one meter where the extended range munitions have lengths of about one and a half meters. To account for the greater length of the munitions, the length of the storage and retrieval systems will also have to be increased.
However, the extended range munitions are expensive and are expected to be used less frequently than the standard range munitions and, for some scenarios, the extended range munitions may not be required. Thus, most weapons will need to be able to carry a mix of standard range and extended range munitions. The mixture will likely include a large number of standard range munitions combined with a smaller number of extended range munitions. Because the size of the storage system must be increased to compensate for a relatively few extended range munitions, the resulting storage and retrieval system will have an increased weight that will include a large amount of empty space.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need for an ammunition storage and retrieval system capable of storing and retrieving munitions having different handling characteristics and capable of re-configuring to adapt to the varying munition needs of different missions.